The Youngest of the Family
by I'll get to it.eventually
Summary: AU. Tooth gets a little brother, and she adores him. (Also known as where is the fluff genre?)
1. Chapter 1

The Youngest of the Family

She couldn't remember ever being more excited.

She was practically vibrating in her seat in the car, barely able to wait until they finally got there, until she could _see_-

Perhaps some exposition is in order.

This particular girl was named Toothiana, and she looked to be in her mid-teens. In actuality, she was about twenty, but she'd always been small. The reason she was so excited is that her world was about to grow and change in ways she'd never have expected. By the time she came home, she wouldn't be the youngest in her family anymore-she would have a little boy of her own to look after, to cherish and adore and scold and share life with like her brother had for her. She had been dreaming of what he might be like for a long, long time. She was sure he'd have the brightest blue eyes, just like his family! And he'd be beautiful. She knew she was going to adore him already.

Finally, the moment of truth. The first time she ever would see her little light. She was shaking. She held out her arms, closed her eyes...

He was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. He looked at her for the briefest moment, looking mildly confused. He was old enough that he could recognize that he hadn't seen her before, she knew, just a toddler and already as cute as a button, with his shock of brown hair and big, big eyes. Her parents were doing whatever parents do when child adoption was going on, but she didn't care. All she could do was look at this precious thing-a child! Her child! Her _little_ _brother!_-and know that she was responsible for him now. She would raise him and love him and she would never let anyone hurt him. That's what sisters are for, after all.

During the ride home, he cried. He made little wailing sounds that broke her heart every time she heard them, and the fierce _joy_ and _love_ she had felt gave way to _panic_ and _oh my god how do I fix this?_ No miracle answer came to her as she fluttered uselessly, but she did her best. She reached over to his booster seat and put a hand on his shoulder, careful because he's so _tiny_, and cooed at him wordlessly. Gradually the crooning became a soft, wordless lullaby, and she would talk for months about how he relaxed and stopped crying when she comforted him.

From that point onwards, she thought he was the cutest thing in the world. He turned out to be a troublemaker, and she couldn't have been prouder. He was the cleverest person in her world, and while they were far from inseperable-she was busy, and some days they didn't see each other more than five minutes each day-she adored him.

When he fell asleep on the couch years after, she crooned another half-lullaby, calling him pet names and babbling nonsense at him. "You know, there was a time when I swore I would never do this," she said quietly, humming at the child as she picked him up gently-and with great strain, he was growing!

Her older brother Aster looked up from the chair next to her. He smiled.

"You know, there was a time when I believed you."


	2. Chapter 2

Jack met Sandy one year after she got her (adorable!) baby brother.

Sandy was a selective mute, and Jack never stopped talking, though he was rather adorably shy when he first met you. Somehow they worked, and they could communicate better than most people could, where Jack was involved. Jack couldn't talk over Sandy, and he could freely babble on as much as he wanted while Sandy made little gestures at him. It made no sense to Tooth, and it definitely wasn't an official sign language, but they managed somehow.

In no time, they were the best of friends.

They did everything together, and Jack could soon speak in their made-up sign language just as fast as he could out loud. They were adorable together, silent and flailing all over, and they were so cute when you startled them! They'd freeze mid-flail and just _look_ at you for a moment, all big startled eyes, before deciding that whatever they were discussing was of the Utmost Importance and returning to it.

It came to the point where you couldn't locate them by sound until Jack laughed. That happened all the time, though, so Tooth was hardly worried about losing them.

One day they went to Jack's first carnival. Sandy was telling him all about them in the back seat, by the looks of it. The two were gesturing impossibly fast, and Tooth thought she recognized some of their gestures. Fun, maybe? And big? Both would describe a carnival.

Finally, they arrived. Their father, Nicholas St. North, got them all out of the car and bought tickets. He was very intimidating and _very_ Russian, but once you got past that he was one of the gentlest people you'd ever met. Jack was bouncing in his seat, and nearly flew out of the car when his door was opened. Sandy was right behind him.

"Wait up, wait for me!" Tooth called. She was their appointed guardian for the day, because she was the only one who could keep up with them. Well, she sort of could. Sometimes.

Mostly it was because their father was going to the sword exhibit, and Tooth refused to have her baby brother corrupted this early.

She finally caught up to them near the gate. "We have to get tickets first. Stick with me," she told them, looking them each in the eye to make sure they understood. When they nodded, she lead them through the crowd.

"Three tickets, please," she ordered. She felt a tug at her side.

"Too, Sandy wants to go to the bathroom!" Jack told her. Great, right when she's busy.

"I need to order our tickets first, can he wait a minute?"

Jack looked at Sandy for a moment, but there was no need for translation when Sandy nodded, dancing a little impatiently. Just then, the ticketman gave them their tickets, and they were free to go.

"Alright, I think the bathrooms are this way," Tooth said. They went quickly to the little oasis next to the entrance, and Tooth waited outside while the boys went to the bathroom.

That done, they proceeded to the rides. Tooth heard "I wanna ride this one!" and "Let's go this way!" enough to last her a lifetime.

It was sunset before she finally put her foot down.

"Alright, one more ride, and then we're leaving. Choose carefully!" She told them.

They made their adorable little flails again, deciding carefully and pointing at every ride at least once, but eventually came to a decision.

"Sandy says we have to go on the merry-go-round, or we haven't been to a carnival," Jack reported.

He was so cute, trying to look all serious! "Okay, sweetie," she cooed. He made an indignant sound at her-right, he was trying to get her to stop calling him that in front of Sandy-and they marched onward. They marched towards the giant wheel.

"Here we go! Are you excited?" She asked the boys. They nodded eagerly, seemingly fascinated by the slow movement of the wheel.

"Look, look, da's down there!" Jack pointed. Sure enough, North had spotted them getting on the wheel and was waving at them from below, squinting into the setting sun. He waved, a tiny figure growing smaller and smaller.

"I wonder if I can see our house from here!" Jack exclaimed. Sandy made flails at him.

"I bet we can find yours, too! Maybe it's that one?"

Tooth smiled as the boys talked and played. She was glad to have her family-all five of them.

* * *

**So this whole thing was an accident. I didn't mean to continue this at all, but then someone asked where Sandy was, and, and...**

**This isn't beta'ed because I am ashamed of myself. I hope you managed to enjoy this pitifully small contribution to the great world that is the RotG fandom. *runs away***


	3. Chapter 3

Christmas.

Easily the most magical time of year, if their father was to be believed. Aster didn't see it the same way, but Tooth could almost agree with North when she saw how excited Jack was.

Sandy was over-he practically lived at their house-and they were both talking over what they wanted to get, babbling excitedly in their sign language. It was Christmas Eve still, but they couldn't wait. Tooth understood more of their signs now, but surely Jack wasn't _really_ saying he wanted to talk to the moon...right?

Then again, this was Jack. He'd always had an odd fascination with the moon.

Sandy was looking dubiously at him and gently signing something that Tooth guessed was probably 'Jack, the moon isn't a person.' Though it could just as well have been 'Why just _talk_? Why not _live_ on the moon?'

Tooth herself was hoping to get a tablet, so she could finally move her art onto her computer and digitalize it. She loved drawing grand castles, reaching up to or even hidden within the sky, and fairies and birds all over the place.

Aster _claimed_ he didn't want anything, which meant that he wanted CDs from his favorite band (which he said he hated, but they all knew better), more paint or canvases, and new running shoes. Tooth had gotten him an empty box, too, just for fun.

North...was difficult to buy gifts for. He had an endless fascination with everything under the sun, so anything he got would make him sincerely happy, but what he _wanted_...that was difficult. By all appearances, all he wanted was to continue selling toys and being with his family, and they had all gotten him wood carving sets and the like far too many times-even Sandy had done it. Tooth had eventually harangued Aster into polling his funds with the rest of them to get two real scimitar-esque broadswords from an antique shop. North always refused to talk about the days before he started randomly adopting children with a smile and a wink, but Tooth was convinced that he had been a swordsman.

Sandy would have been hard to buy for, if not for Jack. He had made her promise not to tell anyone, but Sandy _loved_ mermaids. She had to swear to give him his book on mermaidology in secret after the rest of the presents were opened, or Jack would be sad and betrayed at her. He was so cute with his little face and big blue eyes, that was a legitimate threat!

Which brought her spiraling back to Jack. He was adorable, and even more so when he was happy, and she wanted to get him the _perfect_ gift. It was his first Christmas with his family, too! So it had to be perfect for a little boy. What did little boys like?

Jack liked her fairies, and snowflakes, and stories. He loved fairy tales. He liked Sandy, and his new friend Jamie, and walking sticks. Gah! None of this was doing any good, and Christmas was tomorrow! Tooth felt like pulling her hair out.

Aster was getting him a lovely picture book he'd made with watercolors, North was making him a babushka nesting doll...Tooth couldn't make anything for him! Well, she could give him a fairy, but she'd done that for his birthday only a week or so ago. He _had_ loved it-he'd named it Baby Tooth and carried it around with him everywhere, which was too sweet for her to handle-but she didn't want to just do the same thing again. What if he was _disappointed_? What if he didn't like it?!

Tooth took deep breaths. Her panicking was only garnering her odd looks from her family, and she needed to _think_.

Think, think..._come on,_ she willed herself, _think_!

But what to do? Maybe a walk would help-Jack liked nature, so maybe she'd get inspired if she went to the park.

She jumped out of her chair and headed to the door, pulling her shoes and coat on as she went.

"I'm going to take a walk, I'll be right back!" She called, already halfway out the door.

"Be back for suppertime!" North called back.

Tooth wandered around the park for two whole hours without figuring anything out. She sighed, frustrated with herself-she wanted to get this _right!_

Maybe she should just ask Sandy or give him another fairy or something. She was getting pretty desperate.

She cursed as she tripped over a protruding root on the ground. Why didn't people pave these paths?

On her knees on the ground, she looked around herself. She was here, alone, in the middle of a stupid abandoned park in the dark of an early winter sunset, and it was Christmas Eve, and she couldn't even find a decent gift for her own little brother. How pathetic was that?

Suddenly, she felt all of her frustration and uncertainty condense onto that one spot.

_This is so stupid! Why can't I do this one thing right!?_

She cradled her forehead in her hands. She could feel her eyes tearing up. She didn't know how to be a big sister, Jack would probably be better off with someone else in his family, she just...

Wait.

Below and in front of her, just a little, was a stick. A long, straight stick.

She followed the line of the stick, feeling an idea begin to bud in her mind.

It had a crook at the end, like a shepherd's hook.

Like a walking stick.

Like the kind of walking stick Jack was always looking for. He had always said he'd wanted a perfect walking stick, right?

This was...perfect.

It was absolutely perfect!

Tooth picked herself up, wiping her eyes. She knew what she was going to do!

* * *

On Christmas morning, North was fascinated by his swords, swinging them one way and the other, and Aster gave Tooth a Look when he got an empty box, but was glad to have his new canvases, and Sandy was charmingly shy about his love of mermaids, but Tooth was most proud of her present to Jack. He took one look at the shepherd's crook she'd made by cutting and sanding the stick and adored it. She'd stayed up all night coaxing the piece of wood into perfection, and now it was a perfect-if a little tall-walking stick for Jack.

He looked up at her with big, adoring eyes.

"Thanks, big sister!"

* * *

**I fail at liiiife and cannot write. This is established. You do not need to tell me this.**

**That said, this...probably could have been worse...**

**Maybe...**

**I tried, okay? This goes out to magiccatpriness, who was evil and put plot bunnies in my head to breed.**


End file.
